Bypoll results throw up no surprises

Bypoll results across the country are on predictable lines. In most cases, the ruling parties are ahead of their rivals.

GOA: The BJP has won the Panaji assembly seat for a record sixth time. The seat, vacated Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar , re-elected BJP candidate Siddharth Kuncolienkar. He won the by-election by a margin of 5,368 votes defeating his immediate rival and Congress nominee Surendra Furtado. The seat is dominated by BJP since 1994, when Parrikar got elected for the first time.
WEST BENGAL: Ruling Trinamool Congress on Monday forged ahead in the early rounds of vote count for the Bongaon Lok Sabha and Krishnaganj assembly by-polls. In Bongaon, Trinamool candidate Mamatabala Thakur was ahead of her nearest rival Subrata Thakur of the BJP in all the seven assembly segments after the first round of counting. In Krishnaganj of Nadia district, Trinamool candidate Satyajit Biswas was leading by 8645 votes over his closest rival Apurba Biswas of the CPI-M.

TAMIL NADU: AIADMK is forging ahead in Srirangam assembly constituency, where a bypoll was ncessitated due to the resignation of Jayalalithaa due to conviction by a Bangalore court. S Valarmathi (AIADMK) is leading over the DMK.